Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan continues to rehab rapidly from a March ACL tear, according to position coach Roy Manning. Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

ANN ARBOR -- Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan is still on the mend, and still on track to make his return to the field in October.

Just don't tell first-year linebackers coach Roy Manning.

Speaking with WTKA-AM's "The Michigan Insider" on Monday, Manning offered his official prognosis on Ryan's surgically-repaired knee.

"It’s like he’s not even injured, he’s there all the time, he’s into it," Manning said. I don’t think he’s lost a beat.

“Jake’s one of those guys where I wouldn’t be surprised if he made an earlier return. I’ll be looking forward to that.”

Manning may be offering a bit of hyperbole at this point, as Ryan is on the field at practice with the Wolverines, participating in walk-through drills and doing some running just five months after injuring the knee in March.

But he's still not going through any contact drills, and coach Brady Hoke has stood firmly by his October expectation.

If Ryan can be back by October, it'd obviously offer a huge boost for the Wolverines -- who play Michigan State, Northwestern, Nebraska and Ohio State in the month of November.

"He’s got his mind so set on getting back here as soon as he can, and obviously, when you get into the meat of that Big Ten schedule, he definitely can help us during that time," Manning said. "I remember playing here and Cato June got hurt. The next day, he comes out with a cutoff T-shirt that says, ‘A setback is a setup to come back.’